A GRIEVING mother collapsed with shock after finding her still-born son's grave piled high with soil from a nearby plot just days after his funeral.

Andrea Mannion, 33, and her accountant husband, Tony, 36, of Halton View, Widnes, claim a huge box of soil had been placed on top of baby Harry's grave, along with a spade. Floral tributes had been scattered around.

Mrs Mannion claimed the disrespect was too much to bear so soon after losing a child.

She claims cemetery staff 'completely missed the point' when they offered to pay for new flowers.

She said: 'You never think you will bury your child ahead of yourself. It left me numb and shellshocked.

'We had to gather our inner strength to go back to the cemetery a few days later. But there was a soil box on the grave, like a small skip.

'There had been couple of bouquets on Harry's grave, but the flowers had been thrown aside and I had to pick up a spade from among them.

'Then a grave digger came over and said: 'What is the problem?' What kind of a stupid question is that?

'At that point I physically collapsed because I could not get near my child. I was completely devastated.

'We felt that because it was a baby's grave it didn't matter. I can't under-stand why they did it. It was a total lack of respect.'

A council spokeswoman said cemetery duties were always under-taken with dignity and respect.

She said: 'We apologise for the distress that the soil box found on top of baby Harry's grave has caused.

'When a grave is opened for burial, it is normal procedure to place the excavated soil into a soil box on the two adjacent graves. This is to enable us to backfill an open grave on the same day that a funeral has taken place, something we have to do by law.

'In this instance the soil box was removed from baby Harry's grave within a few hours of having been placed on it and his grave was fully restored.

'One of our cemetery officers saw that Mrs Mannion was upset and approached. He listened to the couple's concerns and tried to explain the situation, but he felt his presence was causing them more distress.'